• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Expiring Talent Contracts

I'm reminded of a story from somewhere in time, probably early 2002.

A listener called in to KOB and complained that she couldn't hear the station on her radio as clearly as she used to. She kept telling the chief engineer (Mike Langner) that she was right downtown and she wanted to know if KOB was having trouble with their signal. Finally, Mike thought to ask her, "Downtown where?" The lady replied that she was in downtown Los Angeles. ::)
 
Does That mean Rush Would become Available??? Scoop Him Up at Whatever the price and Your Station is Insatantly The talk leader in Town.

KOB would not be hurt too Much, becasue With Rush and His Huge Share and the fact That you can put just about Anybody in 6a-10a & 3p-7p and 770 would stay where they are, BUT lose Rush and they Sink. Put Rush on 1550 and we are an imeadiate Player.
 
Yep - ALL contracts are voided. Not only talent, but the lease for the 5th and 6th floor, syndication contracts (Limbaugh), telephone service, you name it. Bankruptcy can actually be a very useful tool to lighten loads a business has brought upon themselves, and opens up numerous options to bring a business into profitability.

Some years back, Territorial Communications used Chapter 11 bankruptcy to void the payments that were due to John Deme when they bought his stations. John was never paid - a very sad story that ended his innovative broadcast legacy.
 
So as of today, none of the Albuquerque Citadel contracts are enforceable, whether for talent, management, programming, office and tower leases, and so forth. I wonder if anyone knows if Citadel can enforce non-compete agreements against staff with whom they had contracts? My take is that as of right now, everyone at Citadel is a free agent.

See http://www.radio-info.com/sections/...file-for-pre-arranged-bankruptcy-today-sunday

Any guesses as to the effect of the bankruptcy on the Albuquerque Citadel operation? Thanks to the competent hand of Milt McConnell and some other very good people, the Albuquerque cluster is a cashflow machine, so if Citadel's new decision-makers have any sense, they will leave Albuquerque alone!

Thoughts?
 
As long as Citadel has (and it has received) court approval to pay salaries and other "operational contract provisions" from their local stations, the contracts are still enforceable.

If the station(s) or Citadel suddenly defaults on THOSE payments, (unlike the 101 debt creditors from the leveraged buyout and other factors such as dismissed employees who have not yet been paid prior to the filing of the pre-pakaged bankruptcy,) then the contracts would, as "usual business" be null and void.

If the company runs out of the $36-million that the company is holding in reserve, over and above the "cashflow" that pays for day-to-day operations, then there "could" be a problem IF a court finds the contracts in question "enforceable."

Until then, since the bankruptcy court approved in writing that Citadel continue to pay salaries and maintain properties with money on hand, the contracts are still in force, as the company is in "reorganization" and not "liquidation."

To hold up their end of the agreement, they had to get "permission" in writing to continue paying on operational expenses as "business as usual" through the pre-packaged bankruptcy, which has to do with its overleveraged debt, not its inability to pay employees or "usual" debts. Only the leveraged indebtedness by the main corporation, not its individual stations or affiliate companies.

That also protects the banks from having to make payments to the company as "new" owners and avoids the properties from shutting down during reorganization.

Can they extend or renew contracts? Yes -- as long as they guarantee such payment, as the court has now allowed. If a contract expires or is not renewed or an employee (or contract) is terminated -- that is allowable, as per the terms of that contract. The reorganization is about corporate failure to meet its loan covenants, not about operational costs.

Will there be more "cost cutting"? Don't be surprised if it does. The company won't be, under the ownership of the banks, be going out to spend that "reserve" while the banks are in charge. They will, under the banks eyes, be watching every dime they spend.
 
It's early next year, and I believe I heard a familiar voice on 98.5 this morning. I attended a sold out show at Rt66 01/02/2010, 98.5 "rock n' soul revue" interesting thing many of the sold out shows since rt66 opened their doors, has featured the name of a prominent Abq radio guy. Let's retire this subject for good, one day he'll be gone , but It ain't gonna be for a awhile, lets hope anyway.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom